Hymenolepis nana (Dwarf Tapeworm) News

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 4, 2015 – Cancer cells transmitted from a common tapeworm appear to have caused cancer-like tumors in a Colombian man with HIV – the first known case of what's called "malignant transformation," U.S. health officials are reporting. The parasite – known as Hymenolepis nana, or the dwarf tapeworm – is the most common human tapeworm worldwide, particularly in developing nations. At any given time, up to 75 million people carry it, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People can become infected with dwarf tapeworm eggs when they eat food contaminated with mouse droppings or insects, or ingest fecal matter from people carrying the parasite. Usually, the invasion causes no symptoms, but in some people, the dwarf tapeworm can continue to reproduce itself in the intestines, according to the case report. In the case of the man with HIV, CDC ... Read more